shatterkiss
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 p.3 #3 · Want Ads that make me cringe | |
See, I bring that up because I went through a similar process when I started shooting music myself, maybe 15 years ago. So that example in particular struck home for me.
Realmstalker wrote:
I've done it a few different ways on that note. I've tried marketing myself to the band, shooting the show and trying to make a sale afterwards ("Hi my names Tim, you guys rock, I took some pics, yadda yadda, if you would like to buy them we can discuss price" or something similar), and I've been approached by some bands willing to work out something for CD artwork. There's no one way to go about it. Some bands have a budget for imagry, and some bands dont.
Right, but that's the thing: if they can't afford your normal fees, do they have something else of value to offer? The reality is that a band that can't scrape together a couple hundred bucks for a photo for merch or cover art isn't likely to be connected enough to get you in front of people of value. The band that wants you to shoot them in exchange for drink tickets isn't going to be opening at a 2,000+ capacity venue a couple months later. Bands that blow up do so because they're organized, strategized, diligent and connected. That band will have a reasonable value proposition for you.
Now, your first approach is totally reasonable, and it's how I started in music as well: cadging my way into shows, shooting as much as possible, then calling up tour publicists and label PR to say, "I shot so-and-so last night and got some great shots, mind if I drop a contact sheet by your office in case the images are of any use to you?" Or, even better, "in case you get any magazines looking for editorial coverage of that show or shows in general?" I landed images in Rolling Stone, Spin, CMJ, NME that way. Covered events like SXSW on spec every year but always made my money in the end. And yeah, there were times I donated images to the PR company in order to get access, but we're talking about shows like Kid Rock, Beastie Boys, Foo Fighters...not some local bar band. And eventually those PR and label people started thinking, "oh, we need promo shots of so-and-so before they go on tour, let's call Simon."
When any given day on Craigslist you see posts like, "I need photos of myself for Match.com, I'll need to come to your studio, this will be TFP but you can use the photos in your portfolio" there's clearly a problem. Analyze that person's perception of the value proposition: to their mind the photos are as valuable to you as they are to them...more so in a way, if you factor in studio overhead and post-production time and whatnot. That assumes that you get value out of getting someone, ANYONE, in front of your lens.
The thing is, I love doing it. I love music, possibly more than I love photography, I'd do it anyways.
That's kinda the problem - photography is one of those few areas where vocation overlaps avocation. We do something professionally that other people enjoy as recreation, we rely on it to pay the rent and someone else thinks it's a hoot to get beer money out of it. You don't hear about recreational plumbers or weekend bricklayers. I don't mind that digital photography has lowered the barriers to entry, I mind that it's created a perception that there's no inherent value to doing the work.
PS - Simon, I absolutely adore your work. It's gorgeous!
Thanks, man! 
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and tons of other people who like the "do it yourself" aspect.